


Princess in the Mirror

by midnight_echoes



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: A Horde cadet, Haunted Castle, Haunted Houses, Haunting, The Fright Zone, crown of knowledge, darkedge, ghost story, the horde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 06:18:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21248822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnight_echoes/pseuds/midnight_echoes
Summary: There was once a bright young Horde cadet, who was fearless and brave. There was no adventure too dangerous or scary for them. So when they heard the tale of the Crown of Knowledge, they just had to go try to find it. Not even the legend of the evil princess that guarded the crown would slow them down.





	Princess in the Mirror

There was once a bright, young cadet, brave and brash; through and through. There was no adventure too dangerous for them. They were the brightest young cadet to come through the Horde in years, only their rebellious streak kept them from being the top of the class. Sneaking out at all hours of the night. Questioning teachers.

“Follow the rules, stay safe!” they all said.

“You’re going to hurt yourself!” they all warned.

They were all scared. Nothing but old fools as far as the cadet was concerned. Perhaps the worst was how much they all feared princesses.

“Oh they’re so evil!” they all cried.

“With the flick of wrist they could make the ground swallow you whole!” they all shuddered.

It wasn’t just the adults, though. Among the cadet’s classmates, a story that had been told for years: a castle far to the north, nestled in the jagged mountains of Darkedge. In the castle was the Crown of Knowledge, a wondrous treasure that could grant whoever wore it unlimited power. The story went that a princess, malicious and cruel, had been locked inside the castle to protect the crown.

The cadet was fearless. They weren’t going to let an absurd tale stop them from looking for what could be the greatest treasure in all of Etheria!

* * *

The trek to Darkedge took over a day. The cadet arrived on a cool, cloudy evening. As they made their way up the dark, cracked steps to the castle doors, they couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of missing a full day of lessons. Their teachers would be so mad. The Crown of Knowledge would surely shut them up.

Up the stairs and through the heavy wooden doors, until the cadet found themselves in the large foyer of the abandoned castle. At least, most of the castle looked abandoned. A thick layer of dust covered all the surfaces. The carpet runner was tattered and stained. The walls were chipped and cracked all over. Cobwebs gathered in every corner. Yet, despite the fact that there were no signs of life to be found, the candles in the sconces on the walls were all lit, bathing the room in soft, amber light.

“Hello?!” the cadet shouted. A gentle breeze whistling through the broken windows was the only reply. Whereas many would have turned away, left immediately, the cadet nodded confidently at the oncoming night and ventured further in.

Torch in hand, they began exploring the first floor. From the outside, the castle didn’t appear to be that large, but on the inside, the castle seemed to just go on and on. It took the cadet over an hour to explore it. With no crown in sight, the cadet began ascending a stairwell that wound upwards, hugging the walls of one of the castle’s towers.

Halfway up to the next floor was a mirror, built into the tower wall. The cadet thought it an odd place for one. The frame was detailed and ornate, with inlaid gems in the corner and gold leafing that was flaking. Surprisingly, the mirror had no dust on it, whereas everything else in the castle was completely covered.

The cadet held the torch up to the mirror and stared into it, their faded reflection looking back at them.

Then suddenly the cadet heard the faint echo of a giggle. They whipped around. As far as they could see they were still alone on the stairwell. Another giggle. The cadet rushed up the stairs to the next floor, where the giggling was louder. They were in a long hallway. Doors on each side, and what seemed to be another circular stairwell heading up at the other end. On one side of the hallway were a few sconces, and on the other side were four more mirrors, all with the same, matching ornate frames.

“Hello?!” the cadet called out for a second time. The word echoed for a moment before dying. “Anyone here?!” they shouted. There was no response, no hint of another living soul in the castle.

Slowly, the cadet began making their way down the hallway. The first couple doors they all tried were locked tight. Having no luck, the cadet decided to investigate the first mirror. It seemed an uncommon choice to lean so heavily on mirrors for decoration. It was a pretty mirror, at least. No denying that.

Out of nowhere, while staring into the mirror, the cadet thought they saw someone run behind them. They couldn’t make out much of the form, it was dark and quick. They spun around and waved the torch around, but the hallway was empty. They turned back to the mirror, and saw something behind them again, this time it was accompanied by more giggles.

The cadet took off down the hall in the same direction that the shadow ran. They came to the next mirror and glanced into it as they jogged. In the reflection, there seemed to be a faded face staring back at them. It made the cadet stop short and turn to the mirror, but as soon as the cadet did, the figure ran out of frame, in the same direction that the shadow had. The cadet ran right past the third mirror and stopped at the fourth mirror, which was just a few feet before the stairwell leading up. They looked deeply into the mirror. No running shadow. No faded face. Just the cadet’s reflection. The cadet cautiously rose their arm up, and pressed their hand against the mirror. It felt just like any other sheet of glass.

Without warning, the mirror went dark. Then suddenly a hand slammed into the glass where the cadet’s hand was. The force was so great it made the cadet stumble backwards and fall down. More laughing filled the hallway. This time, it wasn’t a giggle, but a malicious sounding cackle that echoed down the hallway. The cadet looked back down from where they just came from. One by one, the candles in the sconces were being snuffed out, although what was doing it couldn’t be seen.

The oncoming shadows propelled the cadet to clamour to their feet and race up the stairwell to the third, and top, floor of the castle. They could still hear the cackling below as they made their way into the third floor hallway. The hallway was bright, lit almost entirely by the light through the doorway at the far end, the only door on the entire floor.

With no other direction for them to go, the cadet slowly began making their way down the hallway. As they did, it came into view: sitting on a pedestal inside the room at the end of the hallway was a crown, encrusted with jewels, glowing a bright blue, lighting the entire floor.

Seeing the prize reinvigorated the cadet, who quickened their pace. Towards the end of the hallway, just a few feet from the doorway to the Crown of Knowledge, was another mirror, larger than the rest and with an arched top. Just below the mirror was a plain, wooden side table. The cadet had no desire to peer into that final mirror, they simply continued on, marching with purpose.

Once they got to the doorway the cadet found out that it wasn’t a doorway at all. Instead, it appeared to be a solid glass wall, allowing one to see into the room, dangling the prize so deceptively close. Through the glass wall the cadet could see the entire room. No other openings at all.

The cadet rounded back to the mirror. They did their best not to look into it as they scooped up the wooden side table.

The glass didn’t look that thick.

The little table felt sturdy.

To hold the table properly, the cadet had to set their torch down onto the floor. They backed up a few more feet, then charged at the glass wall, table legs first. They could see the glass shattering as they made contact, they could hear it cracking and breaking apart.

Suddenly, the cadet felt as if they were tumbling. Round and round, completely disorienting them. They were forced to shut their eyes, as the spinning world around them was making them sick.

After a moment they slammed into the ground with a heavy thud. The cadet let out a weary groan. Even before they opened their eyes, they could tell something was off. It was suddenly very cold, much colder than the castle had been even seconds ago. When they open their eyes, they were surrounded by black nothingness, except for a few feet in front of them, seemingly hovering in mid-air, a large, arched window. The cadet staggered to their feet then made their way over to the window.

The sight made them gasp. Through the window they could see the hallway they were just in. Their torch was sitting there on the floor, a few feet behind where the side table lay at the foot of the glass wall, seemingly still intact. That’s when the cadet realized that they weren’t looking through a window at all, but the mirror that was hanging in the hallway. They began banging on it, crying for help.

The air around them suddenly dropped to downright freezing. The cadet shivered and wrapped their arms around themself. Without warning, a hand, cold and sharp, placed itself on the cadet’s shoulder. Loud giggling filled the cadet’s ear.

* * *

There was once a bright, young cadet, brave and brash; whatever happened to them, no one knew.


End file.
